In making ice structures for use by consumers, for example, for cooling a beverage, the ice structures may be clear ice structures molded from a clear ice block. In order to form clear ice structures from a clear ice block, the clear ice block must be formed having a certain predetermined thickness that provides for enough ice material to mold clear ice structures of a desired shape. In forming the clear ice block, layers of running water may be frozen on a cold plate in a single operation until the layers have formed a clear ice block having the required thickness to form the desired clear ice structures. It has been found that forming a clear ice block, having a necessary thickness to form clear ice structures, in a single operation takes a prolonged period of time, particularly as the water-ice freezing surface of the ice block develops further and further away from the cooling source. Thus, a more efficient method of producing a clear ice block having a sufficient thickness to mold ice structures therefrom is desired.
The present invention provides for efficiently made clear ice sheets which are fused together to form a unitary clear ice block having the desired thickness necessary for molding clear ice structures of particular shape.